ABSTRACT

The concept of "technological clusters" applied to the analysis of localised socio-professional dynamics in a context of rapidly changing technological and economic opportunities is a notion that can surely enlighten our understanding of the problems of local economic development. The technological approach allows a different evaluation of industrial territorial logistics, compared with non-technical perspectives. This chapter examines the situation from two different angles; firstly, from the point of view of large industrial companies in relation to their territory, and secondly, from the point of view of the complex relationships between local participants in industrial change, whether they be economic, social or institutional. The development of a new substitute product or different working methods linked to a different social context can result in the collapse of a traditional regional industrial economy. For most firms, the power of domination is to be found elsewhere, in the mastering of the latest scientific know-how, several years ahead of one's competitors.